


Iron sharpens Iron

by A_Touch_Of_Insanity



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, M/M, Mission Fic, More angst, Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 11:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8978731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Touch_Of_Insanity/pseuds/A_Touch_Of_Insanity
Summary: A mission that goes wrong. Very wrong.
(response to some tumblr prompts)





	

They’re on a stealth mission when it happens. It’s a moon so barren that, despite its breathable atmosphere, no one has thought to bother with an official name. It orbits some gas giant in the outer rim and is also the site of suspicious Empire activity. So suspicious that Mon Mothra did not hesitate to send her best stealth team to investigate.

Cassian is ruthless and efficient and subtle and great shot. Everything a rebel operative should be and more. He’s a decent enough pilot to land close to an enemy base unnoticed and could theoretically carry out the operation single-handed. Since meeting Bodhi, however, he hasn’t wanted to.

They quickly learned that they work better together than apart; they have the perfect mix of familiarity and respect that allows them to question dubious decisions and also carry out orders effectively. A mission would normally involved Bodhi sneaking them in, Cassian doing reconnaissance, shooting someone, gathering information with Bodhi as support and then flying them out again when ready. This mission is different.

The surface of the moon being essentially gravel there is not any easy way to hide the ship whilst they carry out the operation. So instead, after landing the transport ship under a small ridge, Cassian presses a blaster pistol to Bodhi’s chest.

‘Stay here,’ Cassian commands.

'Are you trying to keep me out of danger again?’ he scowls. They’ve had this argument before.

'Not this time. I need you to stay here and guard the ship, keep it ready to go in case we need a quick escape. And if anyone sees the ship, I need you to shoot them.’

Bodhi’s frown does not lessen, only it’s now directed at the blaster in his hands. 'I’m not sure I can-’

He’s cut off with a kiss and briefly melts against Cassian, lips parting to accommodate his tongue and eyes fluttering shut.

'I believe in you. Have faith, my love; have faith in yourself.’

Bodhi smiles at the sickening sweetness of his voice. He presses a quick kiss to the end of Cassian’s nose. 'Don’t die,’ he whispers.

'You too.’

Cassian leaves the ship and begins the hike to the temporary base the Empire has set up on the surface. It is not a long walk but it feels an age  when he knows that there could be Imperial soldiers around any corner of the landscape. He stays the other side of a hill he knows the base is behind, occasionally cresting it to check his progress.

Eventually he finds a part of the hill made of separate boulders that provide a brilliant cover and hiding spot whilst still giving a clear view of the base.

Base is a generous word for the Imperial setup in the small crater. There are no permanent buildings, just a few metal containers that presumably serve as accommodation for the workers and soldiers. There’s a multitude of small and unusual vehicles that appear to disappear down a…mine?  There’s definitely a hole that’s being dug directly in the centre of the crater.

And that’s when Cassian spots him.

There’s a man just exiting one of the metal crate-buildings in the uniform of an Imperial Officer. Not just any officer but a high ranking one. Very high.

In a second the mission turns from reconnaissance to assassination. Although not part of his orders, the rebels would be nothing but grateful if he blew his cover to kill a powerful Imperial Officer. It would be risky, Cassian considers as he takes the sniper from his back and begins checks to make sure everything is in order. His stomach twists when he considers that he may be endangering Bodhi’s life as well as his own and he reflexively turns to look in the direction of the ship.

And that’s when Cassian spots them.

Just dots in the distance to the naked eye, three stormtroopers flanking another figure. In the direction of where they landed the ship.

In moments Cassian has the scope to his face to get a clearer view and everything falls away. He feels weightless, bile rising in his throat as palpable dread becomes reality.

They have Bodhi.

His Bodhi.

The figures are still small on his scope but he can see Bodhi’s fear in his posture, his compliance. Two of the stormtroopers have guns to his back and another is slightly ahead. Have they already warned the camp of Rebel presence? It seems unlikely as there has been no apparent disturbance in the main base.

Cassian aims the cross of the scope at the closest stormtrooper and his finger twitches on the trigger and begins to squeeze.

What if he hits Bodhi?

Cassian is a great shot but even at closer distances than this people can make mistakes. A slight misjudge of angle and he could blow Bodhi’s head away in a literal an unpleasant sense. What if his scope was slightly off? There are an unimaginable amount of tech failures that could result in the death of the man he loves, far too many to risk.

Cassian practically throws the blaster to the ground in disgust with himself. He can’t do it.

He leaves the sniper where it lay in the rocks, too heavy to carry, and sets off at a sprint. It’s a terrible plan but it’s the only one he has and Bodhi is in danger and that is all that matters.

He runs almost directly towards them for lack of any proper cover, semi-concealed behind a ridge in the gravel dunes and pistol already in hand. He’s close and still not seen when he crouches behind another pile of boulders to assess the situation.

He can’t sneak up on them as the gravel crunching gives away his movement. He’ll have to run at them and get close enough to shoot with a guarantee of not hitting Bodhi.

He decides to wait for them to pass, a rush from behind being easier than from the front. He watches Bodhi carefully and is disturbed by how pliant he seems; head to the ground and shaking slightly all over. There are definitely tears on his face.

Cassian can’t bare to watch a moment longer and so jumps into a run. He shoots the guard to Bodhi’s right in the back of the neck, a weak spot in their armour that kills them instantly. The other one turns in time for what would have been another killshot to turn into a glancing blow that knocks him off his feet. Cassian is still running at full pelt and so his next shot wounds the trooper further but without an imminent death. He lines up a third shot at the now screaming figure when a muffled voice calls.

'Drop the blaster!’

It’s the third stormtrooper; the one who was scouting up ahead. His gun is holstered still but he’s holding out some device as if it were a weapon.

Cassian points his pistol, aiming at his head and preparing to fire.

'I said drop it!’

'Why?’ Cassian snarls.

'Because,’ Bodhi interjects, voice shaking but surprisingly calm, 'if he releases pressure from that button, the bomb around my neck detonates.’

Cassian whips his head round and sees that there is indeed a thick black cable-tie attaching some device to the back of Bodhi’s neck.

'Drop the blaster!’ the trooper repeats.

He lets the blaster fall from loose fingers. He has to. They have Bodhi.

'You two follow me. Stay at a distance and don’t try anything otherwise I blow his head off and then shoot you. Nobody’s going to care about two more dead rebels.’

Cassian is shaking with rage, following out the troopers instructions with resentment. As they begin to walk he pulls Bodhi beside him.

'I’m s-sorry I-you gave me the blaster but I couldn’t…I mean there were so many and I-’ Bodhi stuttered, tears welling once again.

Cassian hushed him, kissing his forehead and stroking his hair. 'You’re alive. That’s enough for now.’  The stormtrooper turns round and they can practically feel his glare through the helmet. He lowers his voice to a whisper. 'How did he know I’d not just let you die?’

'Well…you did come here to save me. He clearly worked out that either you need me to get off the planet or you care about me,’ Bodhi shrugs before hesitating. 'I know you could fly that ship by yourself which means that…’

'Of course I care about you, idiot.’

'Sorry, just checking,’ Bodhi shrugs.

'How powerful are the explosives?’

'I don’t know,’ he says honestly. 'At least enough to blow my head off. Possibly yours too, standing this close.’

It’s a clear warning to move further away. Cassian, however, only walks closer and definitely links his fingers with the other man’s. They continue in silence a little longer.

'We have to stop him before we get to the base,’ Cassian asserts.

'You’ve got a plan?’

'What I have is barely the start of an idea,’ he sighs. 'You?’

'Same as you.’

They discuss it in bare whispers for only a short while. It’s not perfect but Cassian knows that if they make it to the base, they’re never getting out alive.

As the hill inclines steeper, the stormtrooper has to look back less and focus more on walking up the steep incline. Bodhi and Cassian increase their pace, closing the gap between them with each stride. By the time the stormtrooper notices what is going on, they are on him.

Bodhi kicks out at the trooper’s feet while Cassian clamps down on the hand with the device to stop pressure from being released. They snatch the blaster from its holster and pin him to the ground.

'How do you disable the device?’ Cassian hisses.

No response.

'How do you disable the fucking device?’

'I don’t know,’ the stormtrooper croaks, barely able to breath with Bodhi’s full weight on his back.

Cassian hits him in frustration and growls. The hand clamped under his own twitches slightly and the remote beeps.

'What did you do?’ Cassian shouts.

The stormtrooper crushes the remote in his hand and then fights with renewed vigour, releasing his grip on it.

Bodhi does not die.

Nothing for a moment.

Then Cassian shoots the stormtrooper with his own blaster, at such a close range that his helmet and head inside shatter.

Cassian turns to Bodhi, relief changing to panic as he sees how bloodless the other man’s face has become. He’s staring at the crushed remote.

On the slightly shattered screen it reads 'Captive mode activated’ and then a number. Cassian is confused.

'What does that mean?’

Bodhi stands up and back a few spaces. The number increases. The reverse makes the number increase.

'It’s a distance. There must be a fixed point in their base it’s set to,’ Bodhi explains. 'And if I go too far away…’ He mimes an explosion.

'Can we cut it off you?’

'Not without specialist equipment,’ Bodhi shakes his head, fingering at the thick cable-tie.

'Well the how could we-’

'Go.’

'What?’ Cassian chokes.

'Leave me. I know you don’t want to but at this point you literally don’t have a choice.’

'You’re right, I don’t have a choice,’ Cassian nods. 'I’m going to disable the device, that’s the only option.’ The other man looks about to protest. 'I don’t care. I don’t want to live without you and that’s the truth. You can disable it.’

'Even if I could see it, I’m not an expert in this kind of Imperial technology. I might slip up and-’

Cassian cuts him off with another kiss. 'Have faith in yourself, my love. I believe you can do this.’

Bodhi nods hesitantly. 'You’ve got to do as I say without question. I will lay down on my front and you’ve got to straddle my back. This is going to make it easier for me to give instructions with your left being my left and right being right.’

Cassian does as instructed and he can feel Bodhi trembling slightly against his legs.

'Use something sharp the pry open the casing a bit. A stone maybe,’ Bodhi continues. 'Okay now what do you see?’

The relatively featureless metal case has opened to reveal a mass of various coloured wires and small compartments and blinking lights. Cassian describes this.

'Don’t touch the large black case. That’s full of explosives,’ Bodhi warns.

'How am I going to disarm it, then?’

'You’re not,’ he states. 'All we’re going to do is disable the tracking device. Then we can get back to Yavin to have it safely removed by a team of experts. Now do you see a small black or perhaps blue-ish compartment? It should have two thick and maybe four thin cables leading into it and a microaerial that sticks through the casing?’

Cassian finds it and follows Bodhi’s instructions on cutting and rerouting several more wires.

'This last step is going to be a little tricky.’ Cassian intakes a breath; all of it so far has been more than difficult for him when he knows any false move could result in both their deaths. 'You need to cut the thick wire on the left side. You can’t break any of the other connections.’

The only sharp object Cassian has on him is the stone he used to pry open the casing. He has to cut through thick wire.

It takes too long. Far too long.

His arm his aching and sore from the strain of it and by the time he is half way through he keeps looking up at the hill in the direction of the nearby base, expecting a swarm of stormtroopers to crest it and rain fire down on them. He tries not to jerk Bodhi’s head too much as he already has painful gashes from where the cable-tie is digging in to his skin.

At last, the wire snaps.

Cassian slumps, panting with exertion. 'Is that it?’

'I-I think so.’

Bodhi twists round so he is lying on his back between Cassian’s legs, gazing up at him. 'Promise me now that if this hasn’t worked, you’ll leave.’

Cassian wants to protest but seeing the look on the other man’s face makes him falter. He nods for fear that words would betray him and kisses Bodhi softly, reverently. Then he springs to his feet and grabs the remote.

Bodhi clambers to his feet and takes a few steps forward.

The number doesn’t change.

He takes a few more steps. Still the same.

Cassian wants to scream with elation as he takes Bodhi’s hand and they set off at a sprint, taking the fastest route away from the base as possible. He looks back occasionally to check but there is no one following them. The most comforting sound in the world is Bodhi’s breath beside him and the methidical crunch of gravel under their feet. They reach the ship.

They reach the body of a stormtrooper first.

'You killed one,’ Cassian states bluntly. It was unexpected. He had thought that Bodhi’s earlier apologies had meant that he couldn’t pull the trigger, not when it came down to it.

Bodhi nods. 'It was horrible. I couldn’t shoot another, I’m sorry it was just-’

Cassian envelopes him in a hug, the kinda that melts their two bodies together and they breath as one. Bodhi is still shaking slightly.

'I’m proud of you, my love,’ Cassian says, kissing the top of the other man’s head. 'Do you reckon you can fly the ship?’

Bodhi looks at his shaking hands and clenches them into fists. 'Of course,’ he smirks wearily.

Cassian smiles back. 'Then let’s get the fuck out of here.’

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! follow me on tumblr andorandrook for more bassian feels. it's normally fluffier than this, honest.
> 
> got a prompt for me? ask me on tumblr or in the comments here!


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